Dogs for pack animals?

[Sundodger]

I have been working with my friends pack goats for about the last year with a reasonable amount of success. It’s become clear that as I am getting older I am going to have to rely on something like this. My days of hauling a 150lb pack 15-20 miles are behind me now. While the pack goats have been working out, being that they are not my pack animals if he decides to not keep having pack goats I would have to drastically change how I hunt.

This brings me to the question, dogs as pack animals. I can’t really keep goats at my house, but I could easily keep a pair of 125lb dogs. A quick interest search seems to indicate Malamutes can haul 30% of its weight, this is backed up by a friend that use to have malamutes and he thought that actually sounded a bit low, but in the ball park.

Having a pair of dogs that could haul between them 60-80lbs would be plenty for how I hunt. If I am honest, 50lbs between the two would be enough.



Anyone do this?

Experience good or bad?

Issues or concerns?

Recommended Breeds?



I am sure getting a dog obedience trained to point where he is a good hunting companion that doesn’t scare away all game animals will be a bit of work, but I would love to hear others perspectives on this.

 

[Customweld]

I'm going to say dogs would be more trouble than they are worth. I love dogs, but I'm not sure they would make good pack animals.
1 Would you have to pack food for them? That would eat in to your packing capacity (pun intended)!
2. I would be leery about having them in wolf country.
3. They smell like a predator, that would be hard to mask.
Just some questions or thoughts.

 

[Sundodger]

I'm going to say dogs would be more trouble than they are worth. I love dogs, but I'm not sure they would make good pack animals.
1 Would you have to pack food for them? That would eat in to your packing capacity (pun intended)!
2. I would be leery about having them in wolf country.
3. They smell like a predator, that would be hard to mask.
Just some questions or thoughts.

I have been thinking similar thoughts.

I don't care about the weight hauling capacity going in, they could just carry their own food. Its coming out with a boned out deer where I need the help. I do food dumps often when I come out with a deer, I would do similar with their excess food.

I guess I have backpacked with dogs in wolf country a good portion of my life and never had trouble. Honestly, I have had more trouble with coyotes trying to lure away bird dogs from camp at night to kill, but that was never in the mountains. The wolfs where I go are pretty skitsh and get out of there fast when they see/smell/hear human.

I smell like predator too, and while I am backpacking I smell so bad there is nothing that could mask it other than wind direction, so that's what I do. Obviously that means the dog needs very good training to not mess that up. I had worked with a few dogs over the years, and generally had good success with obedience, but I fully understand that I would have to take it to the next level to be successful with this.

 

[TxxAgg]

curious to see the replies

 

[Ryan Avery]

I read a book a long time ago about a guide that had a Newfoundland and an Akita and used them to pack out Caribou. I will try to find the book.

 

[Customweld]

I have been thinking similar thoughts.

I don't care about the weight hauling capacity going in, they could just carry their own food. Its coming out with a boned out deer where I need the help. I do food dumps often when I come out with a deer, I would do similar with their excess food.

I guess I have backpacked with dogs in wolf country a good portion of my life and never had trouble. Honestly, I have had more trouble with coyotes trying to lure away bird dogs from camp at night to kill, but that was never in the mountains. The wolfs where I go are pretty skitsh and get out of there fast when they see/smell/hear human.

I smell like predator too, and while I am backpacking I smell so bad there is nothing that could mask it other than wind direction, so that's what I do. Obviously that means the dog needs very good training to not mess that up. I had worked with a few dogs over the years, and generally had good success with obedience, but I fully understand that I would have to take it to the next level to be successful with this.

I think it can be done. In my mind, I was envisioning myself and trying to get my dopey dog to behave himself. There are folks that can get dogs to do amazing things.

 

[Cody_W]

I have two German shepherds that I’d love to employ. the hard part has been breaking them of barking at the ever present deer around the house, let alone in the mountains.. I’d imagine they would be pretty lousy pack animals if they scare all the game off.

 

[otolith]

I've seen backpackers in the high country using dogs to carry light loads. Pretty well behaved dogs to. The food issue would be big factor in my opinion. The larger the dog the more food. Interesting idea though. I had an Akita and she was very well behaved. Wouldn't bark, just growled. About 130lbs. Ate a ton of food a day. There may be more to the wolf issue. Twice I've come upon wolves in Southeastern Idaho. I wasn't hunting at the time just hiking. Both times they all ran but I was within 100 feet of them. On one encounter the alpha male stopped and stared at me before bolting. I stared at him through some binoculars. Looked to be about eight animals in total.

 

[Sundodger]

I read a book a long time ago about a guide that had a Newfoundland and an Akita and used them to pack out Caribou. I will try to find the book.

I would be very interested in what book this is so I can buy a copy.

I seem to remember an old Gordan Eastman movie where he used dogs as pack animals, but that could have been some of the "theater" he liked to put in those.

I think it can be done. In my mind, I was envisioning myself and trying to get my dopey dog to behave himself. There are folks that can get dogs to do amazing things.

I consider myself a pretty good dog trainer, but for this I would probably pay a professional to help me out.

I've seen backpackers in the high country using dogs to carry light loads. Pretty well behaved dogs to. The food issue would be big factor in my opinion. The larger the dog the more food. Interesting idea though. I had an Akita and she was very well behaved. Wouldn't bark, just growled. About 130lbs. Ate a ton of food a day. There may be more to the wolf issue. Twice I've come upon wolves in Southeastern Idaho. I wasn't hunting at the time just hiking. Both times they all ran but I was within 100 feet of them. On one encounter the alpha male stopped and stared at me before bolting. I stared at him through some binoculars. Looked to be about eight animals in total.

My last dog I backpacked with was a 90lb rot mix, she had one of those generic commercially available dog packs and could carry her food. I wouldn't put any real weight in there because it had no real structure to it.

My thought for this is get/make/modify to fit a saddle setup similar to what the goats run and probably just run goat sized panniers.

A cup of dog food is about 4 oz, 5 cups a day is 20 oz a day, so for a 9 day trip that's 11.25lbs per dog. Seems reasonable. If I am 20 miles in, and fully loaded it will take me two days to get out. So at the start of the return trip they will only need 2.5lbs of food per dog.

 

[Sundodger]

I have two German shepherds that I’d love to employ. the hard part has been breaking them of barking at the ever present deer around the house, let alone in the mountains.. I’d imagine they would be pretty lousy pack animals if they scare all the game off.

Obviously there is a training aspect to this, but I have also been thinking about individual dog and breed characteristics. Choosing a dog with a low prey drive seems like a good starting point. My brain jumped first to malamutes because of their size, the fact they are bred to do hard labor, and they could really hunt anywhere all fall and there would never be a concern about them getting cold, but their might be some better options, like otolith pointed out Akitas are probably worth looking into.

 

[Cody_W]

Large, working breed, low prey drive, “lower” aggression/protection tendency, structurally sound, loyal. I feel like this would be a great start?

 

[Customweld]

@Sundodger, keep an update going on this. It’s cool that you are thinking outside of the box.

 

[otolith]

Large, working breed, low prey drive, “lower” aggression/protection tendency, structurally sound, loyal. I feel like this would be a great start?

Sounds like a good start. What breeds would be at the top of the list?

 

[otolith]

Obviously I have a soft spot for Akitas but Malamutes would be good one's also. I know my Akita took to commands pretty good but I didn't really try that hard to train. Akitas will not wonder away. Very loyal and can handle cold temps very well.

 

[Ryan Avery]

I can't find that dang book online. It was a book about hunting Caribou in Canada. One thing I do remember is he loved that Akita because it didn't bark and it had no issues running off grizzles.

 

[otolith]

They can be very protective. Mine was great with all of my friends except one. That one she did not like and wasn't afraid to hide it. Of all my friends she had him pegged right because he could act like a jerk sometimes and he just gave her the wrong vibes. Loved everybody else though.

 

[Heath Hansen]

There are sheep outfitters in Canada that use dogs for packing. A couple years ago we had two along on a mountain goat hunt and they were awesome! The packed an entire goat out, meat and hide. They packed all of their own food in as well as most of ours. They were well trained and would lay down when asked and remain there until told otherwise. At one point that was 6+ hours as we stalked some goats.

As far as their scent goes, by day 3 of a backpack hunt you are going to smell a lot worse than that dog.

 

[Sundodger]

@Sundodger, keep an update going on this. It’s cool that you are thinking outside of the box.

Will do

I can't find that dang book online. It was a book about hunting Caribou in Canada. One thing I do remember is he loved that Akita because it didn't bark and it had no issues running off grizzles.

Thanks for looking.

They can be very protective. Mine was great with all of my friends except one. That one she did not like and wasn't afraid to hide it. Of all my friends she had him pegged right because he could act like a jerk sometimes and he just gave her the wrong vibes. Loved everybody else though.

The quiet and not wandering part are a huge deal.

 

[Sundodger]

There are sheep outfitters in Canada that use dogs for packing. A couple years ago we had two along on a mountain goat hunt and they were awesome! The packed an entire goat out, meat and hide. They packed all of their own food in as well as most of ours. They were well trained and would lay down when asked and remain there until told otherwise. At one point that was 6+ hours as we stalked some goats.

As far as their scent goes, by day 3 of a backpack hunt you are going to smell a lot worse than that dog.

Very cool, any more details you can provide? What kind of breed? what kind of saddles/packs/panniers, etc. Do you happen to remember the name of the outfit?

 

[Okhotnik]

I can't find that dang book online. It was a book about hunting Caribou in Canada. One thing I do remember is he loved that Akita because it didn't bark and it had no issues running off grizzles.

Not a bad idea but what are you going to do with the akitas the remaining 11 plus months a year? Many home owners' policies won't even cover you with akitas, pits, Rottweilers etc